The Damascus camp, whose residents were dying of starvation until a deal
between the government and rebel groups to open an aid corridor, is now cut
off again

Al-Qaeda affiliated rebels in Syria have taken control of Yarmouk camp, ceasing the flow of aid to tens of thousands of civilians who are trapped and living in desperate conditions.

Jabhat al-Nusra, a rebel group that swears its loyalty to al-Qaeda, has seized checkpoints inside primarily Palestinian neighbourhood of Damascus, ending a fragile ceasefire that was being negotiated by the regime and the opposition, residents of Yarmouk said.

“A small number of people had started to be allowed out of Yarmouk under the agreement,” said Ziad, a resident from Yarmouk who spoke under the condition his name be changed. “Now al-Nusra has stormed the camp and taken over the checkpoints inside and the agreement is finished.”

Yarmouk, a former refugee camp for Palestinians, has been one of the areas hardest hit by the Syrian conflict.

Strategically located in the south of Damascus, near rebel-held suburbs, it has proved a valuable supply line to rebel fighters, and has attracted heavy government artillery strikes that have decimated large parts of the neighbourhood.

For months, no supplies were allowed in, and nobody was allowed out of Yarmouk, as government troops and loyalist militias imposed a tight siege on the area, reducing much of the estimated 40,000 residents to survive on weeds.

Finally, under a fragile agreement, Syrian rebel fighting groups agreed to leave the camp in the hands of Palestinian local factions, prompting the government to allow a limited amount of aid to be delivered inside the area by the United Nations.

But on Sunday, rebels, led by al-Nusra once again stormed the area.

In a statement posted online al-Nusra said the regime had violated the terms of the agreement, including by setting up “booby trapped” checkpoints and allowing in groups of “shabiha” - loyalist paramilitary forces.

A photograph purportedly taken inside the camp, showed rebel fighters wearing black uniforms toting guns in the air. The logo stamped on the photograph is one from the more extremest rebel group, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).

Locals said there was a small contingent of ISIS fighters inside the camp, but that al-Nusra made up the bulk of the rebel onslaught.

Chris Gunness, a spokesman for UNWRA, the refugee agency, said the agency has been unable to distribute food parcels in Yarmouk since Sunday and called on the parties to the conflict to immediately allow the resumption of relief operations.

“UNRWA remains deeply concerned about the desperate humanitarian situation in Yarmouk and the fact that increasing tensions and resort to armed force have disrupted its efforts to alleviate the desperate plight of civilians,” he said.

The ceasefire that collapsed on Sunday had taken months to develop, local residents said.

Conditions in Yarmouk have left thousands of people on the brink of starvation, being forced to beg and bribe militiamen and soldiers imposing the siege for supplies. Medical supplies have all but run out, leaving doctors with little more than limited first aid kits to treat gaping wounds from the continuous shelling of the area.

Rania al-Marjeh, a Syrian living in Britain, whose brother was recently killed in Yarmouk, said she feared for the safety of her remaining brother Mazen, 36, who is trapped inside Yarmouk: “We are desperate to get him out,” she said. “Everyday they give a different reason for why they can’t open the checkpoints.”